Blog Topic
Aviation Accidents
Aviation Companies Settle in Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Helicopter Crash
April 03, 2008
Three families have settled for a sum of $18.4 million with an aviation company that is one among several blamed for the deaths of three medical workers in the crash of a helicopter.
The medical helicopter crash occurred in 2002 in Norfolk. The LifeNet of the Heartland helicopter had just left a hospital, when the pilot seemed to have difficulty with the aircraft. Soon after, it crashed near Norfolk airport. Three workers were killed - 41-year-old Laurie Schrempp, 43-year-old Phil Nerring and 40-year-old Patrick Scollard. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the fault lay with a faulty tail rotor in the copter, among other factors. The tail rotor apparently went out of control, crashing the helicopter near Norfolk Airport.
The families of the three deceased filed a wrongful death lawsuit against six companies that made or maintained the component parts of the helicopter that were responsible for the crash - American Eurocopter, Eurocopter S.A, CIT Leasing Corp., Societe D' Applications Des Machines Motrices, Dunlop Limited and Duncan Aviation of Lincoln. Under the settlement the six companies will pay a settlement of $18.4 million to the families, but will not admit any wrongdoing.
More importantly, the helicopter's manufacturer Eurocopter SA, said that it would require more aggressive inspection and checking of parts on its helicopters. The company said it would change the tail rotor load maintenance requirements within the next 90 days. Currently, the mechanism which helps control the tail rotor is checked by maintenance technicians after every 500 flights. This time gap between inspections will be reduced to 100 flights. That's not all. The company will look into redesigning the part that went out of control in the crash - the tail unit of the Eurocopter AS350B2 and all other parts just like it.
The $18.4 million settlement is believed to be the largest ever in Nebraska. Eurocopter is expected to contribute the lion's share of the settlement, but breakdown details of all companies involved are unavailable. More than the amount of the settlement is the fact that the company will make efforts to redesign the faulty tail rotor, and undertake more frequent checks of the tail rotor to ensure that mishaps like this don't occur again.
The families are said to be pleased with the changes that Eurocopter has announced. These changes will mean that such accidents will become less frequent.
If you have lost a loved-one in an accident, contact an experienced California personal injury lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.
Investigators Look for Clues in Plane Crash
January 22, 2008
Investigators are looking into Sunday's freak plane crash that killed five people and scattered debris around a populated area of Corona, California.
The two planes seem not to have seen each other before the crash. According to the Los Angeles Times, the sun could be to blame - the glare of the sun is apparently intense at that particular time of the day, and it's possible that the pilots were temporarily blinded by the glare from the sun.
The planes, a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 150, had major damage to their midsections with one plane's wings being ripped right off. That pilot and passenger were ejected from the plane and died. In all, both pilots and their passengers were killed in the collision. The fifth fatality was a man sitting in a Chevrolet dealership who was killed when debris came crashing down into the building.
Debris from the wreck was scattered as far as a thousand yards from the site of impact, and the fuselage of one plane reportedly landed on a car.
The pilots were both licensed. The airport, as is common for smaller airports, does not have a control tower. The lack of a tower means that pilots should signal their intention by communicating with each other. This doesn't seem to have happened in the case of this plane crash.
The accident has shaken up staff members at Corona Municipal Airport who say that theirs is a professionally operated airport, where pilots know the rules and are used to flying in these conditions. Obviously, pilots aren't 100-percent used to flying in these conditions, as is horribly evident from this tragedy. It's bad enough that two pilots and their passengers have died horrific deaths, but the fifth victim, an innocent man sitting in the safety of a building has been made to pay for lax air traffic safety rules.
If you or a loved-one have been injured or killed in or due to an airplane crash, you need the experience of a California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.
Airplane Tire Catches Fire - Closes Orange County Airport
October 30, 2007
A tire on a private jet caught fire on Monday, closing the main runway at Orange County's John Wayne Airport. The Hawker 800 XP aborted takeoff when the tire under the left wing caught fire. The six passengers and two crew members successfully evacuated the small business jet and airport fire fighting equipment extinguished the flames.
If you have been injured in an aviation accident, contact the personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group for advice on your rights.
